Forum:Mirtul 2113
D-Day - Drow, Dragon, Dead Guardian and Drunken Master: Mirtul 7th-9th On the morning of the 7th, after the Pathfinders had recuperated from their struggles in Char Nassed, several of them congregated in the Boar & Thistle to talk to the two drow captives Malavika and Kishori. Kat, Rinzler, Erevis, Alejandra and Jura decided to speak to Kishori first, and enlisted the help of the Reverend Mother to cast several spells, including one to remove the Feeblemind spell that had been placed on the high priestess. Immediately after the spell was removed, the priestess became aware of her surroundings and attempted to flee out a window. Though she was barely restrained by Jura and Alejandra, she did manage to shatter the window and see the light of the sun outside. Realizing that she was far from her Underdark home, she became yeilding, whereupon she saw the Elfstone upon Kat's hand. Seeing this, she fell into a fit of despair, mumbling that her god had abandoned her and that everything was lost. Though she calmed within a few moments, she remained in a state of shock. The Pathfinders asked a few questions of her regarding the Dead Nation, the Elfstone and the drow of Char Nassed. Eventually, her shock overtook her, and the Pathfinders let her be. They then went to the room where Mala was being held, and found it in a state of utter chaos: nearly everything within had been ripped, smashed or overturned. The young princess was found hinding under a blanket, utterly upset and demanding to go home. Kat joined her under the comforter and tried to console her, but she would have nothing of it. When she continued to demand that she be returned, the others told her that she couldn't, because her mother was planning on sacrificing her and they couldn't let her be killed. Mala would not believe this, even when told that they had learned this from Kishori herself. Upon learning that Kishori was nearby, she commanded that she be brought to her. The young girl was brought down the hall, where she yelled at the priestess for some time. Eventually, the girl calmed down a bit, and Kat offered to take her to the special "third daughter" room; she found this acceptable. Both Mala and Kishori were moved to Castle Kat, to be kept in guest rooms until further notice. Meanwhile, Halstein performed a home-brew cleansing ritual involving freezing water immersion and copious amounts of hallucinogenic mushrooms in order to "purge the wendigo spirit from his body". Jura attempted to make a safe environment for this ritual, but Halstein broadly ignored the majority of her recommendations. He experienced a series of intense hallucinations, which Rinzler shared using Detect Thoughts, and came out of the experience feeling purged of the evil spirits. While this was happening, Kat and Alejandra had a rather serious discussion, which was interrupted by a raven, delivering a note to Kat from the First. After this was wrapped up, the Pathfinders decided to return the Skroll Kase Kobold Daizy to her husband, said to live in the River King. Rinzler, Kat, Alejandra and Erevis teleported there with the kobold lady, and found that the left eye was actually hollow, the entrance covered with an illusion. Inside, they found a stone castle nestled within the cave, inhabited by a huge, sleeping gold dragon. Daizy ran to him and woke him up, and upon seeing her, he shifted form into that of another kobold and embraced his wife. They thanked the Pathfinders profusely for reuniting them, and in return for their kindness, the dragon regaled them of stories of several powerful magical artifacts that he knew of, including Fragarach, known to be kept by Amurru, Abadar's Plate, likely still within the church in the Ruined City, the Angel's Tear, located somewhere in the Montane Savannah, a huge aquarium apparently located in the Wyrm's Teeth, and a giant cannon pointing towards the Rheic Sea in the Western Rainforest. He also agreed to be a guest lecturer at Nahasian Insights, and he granted the group a small gem imbued with his luck. Though the Pathfinders asked his name, they found that it was hidden by an enchantment which prevented them from easily remembering it. With a bit of work, they were able to commit to memory the name Daxon'Praxon Maysillius. With Daxon's help, they teleported back to Willowdale, whereupon they almost immediately teleported to the Ruined City. Once in the city, they crept through the streets with as much stealth as they could muster, and managed to make it to the church without alerting a single inhabitant. They found the door to the church sealed with a powerful barrier to ward off evil. When Alejandra prayed in front of it, the barrier gave way and the group was allowed entrance. Within, they were greeted by the spirit of a paladin, who introduced himself as the guardian of this bastion of civilization, protector of a great artifact. The Pathfinders had to justify themselves and their intent to the ghost, who was pleased and granted them the Plate of Abadar with no further trial. Further, he welcomed them to four incomplete iron golems, which were intended to protect the Plate, but were not completed in time. With that, the ghost vanished. Alejandra claimed the plate, and the group, using some rather canny magic, managed to teleport themselves and all four golems back to Willowdale, where an ecstatic Erevis moved them into his school. While there, they happened to bump into Henry the Fence, a wandering merchant who had a letter for Alejandra. He did some business with the others before teleporting away. After eating a light lunch, Alejandra, along with Halstein, decided to petition the master smith Vanagandr to reforge it into full plate mail befitting the paladin. Those two, along with Ballantino, teleported to Ashi-Gompa for that reason; Kat and Rinzler tagged along. The smith, looking at the legendary armour, took on the job as something befitting his talents. He told them it would take three days of non-stop work, and so they began. Rinzler and Kat decided to go look for Wutog, but discovered that she was asleep in a tavern. They spent the late afternoon wandering the markets, buying curios, and returned to the bar when it opened. Wutog was indeed there, working the counter. When she saw them, she invited them to stay, and regaled them of what she had learned of both the monastary, and of the contents of the fourth scroll of Fahz Murb, which outlined the signs that would portend the end of the world. She also mentioned the Drunken Master, whom Halstein was itching to test himself against; the three of them went and picked up Alejandra and Halstein before bar-hopping to find the infamous figure. When they found themselves in the correct place, Alejandra heralded Halstein's intentions, which prompted the Master to come out from the back rooms, revealing himself to be a warforged. Halstein challenged him directly, and the Master silently agreed. The two had a short yet heated duel, in which Halstein managed to impress the warforged, who wordlessly invited him to drink with him afterward. Kat and Rinzler returned to Willowdale the next morning, while Halstein, Alejandra and Ballantino stayed in Ashi-Gompa the three days necessary to reforge the armour before going back. Beach and Banished Shadows: Mirtul 13th-17th On Mirtul 13th, Jura and Gorgoroth spoke to Kishori. Gorgoroth bought her dinner in the Boar & Thistle and asked her if she knew and was capable of performing the Pain Taster ritual. Kishori agreed, though she expressed surprise that he was willingly seeking out the practice. Gorogoth then left to ask Martha about a job as a cook. Jura continued to talk to Kishori about drow society, and assured her that the people of Willowdale did not in general betray or murder their friends for personal advancement. She also affirmed the Pathfinders' commitment to protect her and provide her with a fresh start. At this, Kishori inquired into the clergy in town, and in the end the drow decided that the druidic practice with its lack of hierarchy and worship of the world itself was more appealing than the agricultural Church of Yoma or the war-centered worship of St Christopher. Jura offered to introduce her to the initiates in the morning; Kishori requested that she be allowed to associate first with the human initiates and avoid the goblins and Alyenna. Kishori also recommended a firm hand in dealing with Malavika and suggested that a female guardian would have an easier time with the girl. At this Gorgoroth and Jura escorted Kishori back to her room in Castle Kat and went to talk to Mala. The girl insisted that her mother would have their heads for kidnapping her and ignored Gorgoroth's attempts to explain that she would have been killed if she had remained. Frustrated, Gorgoroth sent her an oracular vision of what would occur should she be returned home. Though he and Jura were not privy to this vision, it clearly had a sobering effect on Mala, and the girl demanded to be left alone immediately. Jura guessed that this revelation would leave Mala depressed for some time, but would in the long run help her to come to terms with her new life in Willowdale. On Mirtul 14th, Jura and Gorgoroth joined Ruthea to find Arcade on the Rheic Shores. They took a portal to the Pharos Lighthouse and then travelled southwest, following the Geomancer's Wand to Arcade's camp. Arcade seemed pleased to see Ru, and undisturbed to see Jura and Gorgoroth, who he had not previously met. He asked after Halstein, and then agreed to travel with the Pathfinders for a while, though he declined Ru's offer to come to Willowdale. The group flew to Alsea on summoned eagles, arriving in the early evening. While Gorgoroth performed with his monkeys and inquired into buying a house in town, Jura spoke to a representative of the Elders regarding the Necromancer. She determined that the Elders had received the Pathfinders' warning sent several days previous that their location had been compromised, and were attempting to use a Wish to again remove the information from the minds of the Dead Nation. Gorgoroth and Jura had a housewarming party at Gorgoroth's new sparsely decorated cottage, and spent the night. Ruthea and Arcade had a romantic discussion outside the gates, and both imbibed the Philtre of Love bestowed upon Ru by Coyote. {C}On the morning of Mirtul the 15th, the group reconvened and flew north on the eagles to the Bracken Pass, aiming for the Montane Savannah in the hopes of finding the Angel's Tears. They arrived in the pass in the evening. In the night, three fire giants approached and told Gorgoroth, who was on watch, to get out of their territory. Gorgoroth immediately woke the others and attacked the giants. As the fight progressed, the Pathfinders heard the crashing of a large creature through the woods. When a particularly large stone giant burst onto the scene, the last fire giant turned to flee. However, the stone giant extended a hand and turned the fleeing fire giant to stone. He then picked up one of the fire giants' bags and extracted a young goat, which he began to pet. The giant appeared to understand the Pathfinders' Common, but would only himself repeat the words “Me Bil” in Common. Bil camped with the Pathfinders and waved goodbye when they left in the morning. On Mirtul the 16th, the Pathfinders again summoned eagles and flew to the Montane Savannah. However, on entering the Savannah it occured to them to divine the likely result of pursuing the Angel's Tears. Gorgoroth received a vision of the three Pathfinders standing before a jeering court of outsiders – both angelic and demonic – while wearing dimensional shackles. Consulted, Rhekmire could only say that this vision sounded like the final judging of souls upon death. Deciding that it was better to put off this endeavor rather than risk being taken prisoner again, the group turned around for the Pharos Lighthouse. From there they teleported to Rathbone the Red's Tower, and entered the Witch Woods. After travelling a short distance into the woods, Jura stopped to Commune with the land directly, seeking answers about what afflicted it as well as any solution. Though making this link exposed her to an undetermined mental attack, Jura was able to gather from this that not only would structures within the woods disappear at night, but any creature that spent too long within the woods ran an increasing risk of simply ceasing to exist. The divination also indicated that destroying the Witches' Cottage would end the evil within the woods. As it was now nearing night, the group decided to attempt to leave the woods from the air with summoned eagles. However, the eagles refused to land. The Pathfinders attempted to coax them close enough to climb on with the help of ropes, but upon approaching the canopy the eagles scattered. Realizing that they would not likely make it out of the woods by nightfall, the group decided to press onwards in the hope of destroying the house and banishing the evil of the woods. On approaching the house, Ru mentioned the cellar that Blackfeathers had described and asked whether they should investigate it. However, Gorgoroth had already entered a rage and begun to smash through the fragile wood with his magic hammer, and Jura opted to join him, burning the structure in the form of a fire elemental. The structure quickly collapsed in a burning heap, which Ruthea extinguished using the water collected from the flooded Elven Archives using Dust of Dryness. Though the structure was undoubtably destroyed, the uneasy feeling within the woods remained. The Pathfinders could not determine why this was the case, and considered that there might have been some relevant article within the cellar. Given the collapsed state of the structure, only Jura in snake form was able to enter what had been the cellar. A search revealed a black sapphire radiating a magic which Jura was unable to identify. When Jura returned to the others and spit the gem onto the ground, Gorgoroth immediately smashed it, causing the magical aura to disappear. However, this did nothing to dissipate the evil of the woods, and the group made with all haste to the Rathbone the Red's Tower, with the help of a Find the Path spell which thankfully did not appear to have failed as the Geomancer's Wand and Ru's map had previously done; whether this was because of the nature of the spell itself or because the magic was used to locate something outside the border of the woods was unclear. However, darkness fell before the Pathfinders could reach the edge of the woods, and they found themselves attacked by a trio of Night Hags. The hags levied powerful curses upon Gorgoroth and Zuni with the help of a strange Bonewand, and used the same wand to turn the first of their number to fall into an explosion which severly injured Gorgoroth. However, Gorgoroth's powerful blows, Ru's backstabbing, and Jura's damage resistance-piercing weapons were too much for the hags. As the last fell, a Weird was released. Jura and Ruthea saw through the illusionary horror, but Arcade was scared half to death by the vision and Gorgoroth and Zuni were both instantly felled by it. Despite their shock and grief, the Pathfinders retained the presence of mind to stow the bodies within Gorgoroth's powerful bag of holding, and to search the bodies of the hags, whereon they found the Bonewand, three heartstones and a number of highly valuable black sapphires, which on later reflection the Pathfinders recognized as gems used to trap souls. The Pathfinders then made with all haste to Rathbone's Tower. Ru and Jura returned to Willowdale by portal, exhausted. Arcade instead returned to the Pharos Lighthouse, where he said he intended to camp out awaiting Halstein's arrival or Ru's return. On Mirtul the 17th, Jura and Ru spoke with the dead Gorgoroth with Erevis' help and determined that he preferred to be reincarnated rather than raised. He emerged as a grey-and-brown gnoll male and upon returning to the streets of Willowdale was happily greeted by Rahzer'ok. Zuni was raised and appeared to have no recollection of her ordeal. Gorgoroth then sought out Kishori in order to undergo the Pain Taster ritual. She appeared confused by his physical change, but again agreed to perform the ritual, asking Jura and Ru as the witnesses to understand that she was inflicting this incredible pain upon Gorgoroth's (highly unusual) request rather than out of a desire to torture. The group travelled to the Shrine to the Twin Gods as a suitable holy site, whereupon Kishori tied Gorgoroth against a wall and flayed him until bone was visible using a whip worked through with glass shards. The statues of the Twin Gods appeared to smile through this ritual; Jura had to excuse herself halfway through in order to vomit. On the completion of the ritual, Kishori symbolically slit across Gorogorth's throat, and he collapsed, grinning, and refused to accept mundane or magical healing offered by both Kishori and Jura. Instead, despite verbal and physical resistance from Jura, he returned still bleeding to the Boar & Thistle for a few mugs of ale. Conversations in the Sawtooth Vale: Mirtul 18th On the morning of the 18th, Rinzler approached both Jura and Martha, trying to find out who the father of Martha's unborn child was in order to dispel Kat's newfound fears that it might be some sort of Antichrist. Martha refused to divulge the information, and proceded to scold Rinzler rather harshly, tasking him with keeping Kat safe from the dangers and cruelties of the world. Afterwards, he and Kat, now in the company of Ruthea, decided to visit the Cathedral of the Blackened Sun in an attempt to gather information regarding the prophesied end days. Kat, however, wished to speak with the First before going, and the Sending he returned to her request invited the group to meet him at the Orc Fortress. They used the druid circle to travel to the Sawtooth Vale, and sailed down river past the lumber camp and the village until they reached the fort, despite Ru's protestations that the whole day's plans were stupidly dangerous. After some cajoling, they were permitted entrance to the fort. Unsure of where the "thin grey man" they wished to meet was, they wandered down the halls until they crossed paths with a jester of some variety. The fool mocked Kat mercilessly before somersaulting down the hall and running away; the group chased him around some corners until they found themselves face-to-face with the elderly Warchief. The old orc looked at them with a mix of derision and fatigue, and informed the First of their presence. The lich appeared from behind a doorway, greeted them, and led them to a meeting room to talk. The conversation on the whole was largely unsettling: Ru demanded to know what it was the liches were planning, quickly becoming frustrated at the First's veiled replies, while Kat pleaded with him to speak to the other disciples and tell them to stop fighting with the Pathfinders. The First stressed that he extended his offer of protection to her alone, and that to tell his coworkers to stop in their plans would be to abandon his own beliefs; they were building an eternally perfect world at the behest of their master, and some things would have to be destroyed in order for creation to take place. Kat eventually exclaimed that she couldn't take the fighting anymore, and that she was leaving the Pathfinders because of it. At this, the First invited her to come live with him. Ru lost her head, screaming and practially crying, telling Kat off for listening to him and berating the lich for trying to lure her. Kat originally accepted, but became hesitant when the First explained that if she came with him, she would not be allowed to leave; she could watch all of her friends, but could not visit them. By that point, whether due to Ru's aggressive hysterics or Kat's lack of acceptance, the First began to visibly lose his patience: he and Kat exchanged gifts, a magic staff for a magic staff, he snapped that they should go visit the Cathedral so that maybe they would learn something, and the First took his leave. The three adventurers, highly unsettled at this turn of events, lingered in the room for a few moments until the Warchief approached them and asked them to follow him to have a word. The Warchief took them down the hallway into a barracks room, which he emptied with a shout. Sitting down with the group, he explained that wanted to talk frankly with them, and there were no eyes in this room. He told them with a touch of wist that he was getting old, and that he knew one of his children were coming for him; one had already arrived, and if his death was not at the hands of that son, another son or daughter was surely on their way. This was not his problem, but rather the current "king": an upstart from civilization who fancied the ways of man better then the ways of orcs, who forcibly united all of the tribes and named himself their lord, who made the orcs build unfamiliar castles and weapons, and who danced to the song of the dead, carrying out the orders of the disciples that would surely lead to the deaths of the orcish people. The Warchief explained that he was in no position to defeat the mad king, but he implored the Pathfinders to kill him, so that the orcs could go back to their own ways, free from the control of the Dead Nation. He informed them that the aurogs, the half-orc, half-ogre abominations of the Fifth, were concentrated around an old mine to the east; beyond that was an old burial ground, taboo to the people of the village, but possibly where the last of the orcish druids were hiding. He also mentioned a tower to the south, another taboo place where a strange being known as the First Orc lived. Finally, he gave them a grave warning, which he had difficulty translating: do not allow the body of the king, or anyone else, to fall into the hands of the Dead Nation, for by eating any part of a body, whether flesh or bone, they can consume and gain the power, knowledge and possibly the soul of the dead. With his knowledge imparted, he said that should they find his child, tell him that he is waiting for him in the Longhouse of the Exiled Elders, and left. The three were once again left feeling unsettled and overwhelmed, and so lingered in the room until an aurog entered and violently chased them out. Getting back in their boat, they mulled over going to the Cathedral, but the heavy nature of the previous converstations had left them drained. As a distraction, they decided to peek into the tower that the Warchief had mentioned, managing to purposefully sail the ship right off the waterfall on the way. When they reached the tower, they found it was not a tower at all, but rather the last remnants of a parapet of a building which must have predated the apocalypse. It was surrounded by a magic barrier that prevented all but orcs from entering the premises, but it was easily dispelled for a short period. The group climbed the crumbling stairs until they reached the very top, where they found a terribly rusted door. Behind it was a sparse room, where they found a positively ancient-looking orc man, withered and aged long past what should be naturally possible. The group approached him, and found that he spoke with the quiet and addled nature of the aged, answering questions but drifting off into tangents, memories and slumber with equal ease. They learned that he had apparently lived before the apocalypse, 2200 years ago; he knew the man who caused the tragedy: a selfish, power-hungry being who yearned for destruction. The devastation he caused by setting the two nations against each other was not enough to satisfy him, and it turned him into what he is now: the Necromancer. According to the First Orc, that even when the Necromancer was human, he was never a man, and now that he is what he has become, he will never be a man again; he is a being of destruction, who will bring everything to ruin again and again, and will continue to destroy long after there is nothing left for him to gain. It is the power of the Necromancer that keeps the First Orc alive and trapped within this tower. He mentioned Prince Bytor, and that he and his elven companion visited him in the past, asking how to destroy the Necromancer. He also mentioned that he once was an alchemist who had an apprentice, though the apprentice had became lost in his quest for power: he stole the elder's research, renewed the magics trapping the elder there, and became the Fifth. Finally, he mumbled much about a sweet girl named Marilee, an orc girl that used to visit him who he thought deserved a better life then the one she would get in the superstitious village she lived in. The group gave the old man a blanket and some tea, and left him be to nap. Again, they considered proceding to the Cathedral, but it was getting late and the conversation with the elder had done nothing to restore their good humour, so instead they decided to go back to the village and see if they could find out who Marilee was. Arriving by nightfall, they found their way to a longhouse that served as a tavern of sorts. When they entered, Ru and Rinzler made their way to the kegs, but were blocked by a large orcish man. He refused to get out of their way; Ru tried to smooth things over, but Rinzler responded with a quip regarding the man's mother, provoking the man into a fight. Rinzler dodged around for a bit, evading the orc easily, until the man accidentally nearly knocked over a keg, invoking the ire of the other patrons. Seething, the orc left the longhouse, and the group began to ask around for Marilee. A group of trappers mentioned that she was the wife of that human man, the alchemist prisoner, though they laughed and said that he hadn't needed a guard in some time. After getting directions and thanking them, they made their way over to the alchemist's house. Knocking on the door, they were "greeted" by a large, muscular orc woman, cracking her knuckles and glaring. They asked to see either the alchemist or Marilee, but they recieved only more glowers and a closed door. Not to be dissuaded by good manners, they proceded to knock and loudly inquire until a soft-spoken man's voice told her to let them in. Inside, they found a comfortable living space, as well as a man working furiously over an alchemist's lab. When he looked up and noticed with surprise that the visitors were not orcs, he introduced himself as Barnabus, apprentice to the late Baron Firth. In his somewhat nervous way, he explained a bit about his life, his work under the Baron, and how he had come to be in the village. He said that he used to perform mostly alchemy for the orcs until the new king arrived, who started him on making guns, though that was alright as he had always had more skill with that anyways; trying to teach the orcs how to make guns themselves, however, was a trying and fruitless task. The Pathfinder's staggering knowledge of the west shocked him, and when he hopefully mentioned with some reserve that he would like to go back to civilization, they surprised him further by telling him that certainly, they could relocate him and his entire family immediately with no problem. In a tizzy, he gathered up and introduced his family, including his three wives and two children, along with his brother-in-law and his pet boar. His third wife was indeed Marilee, the mother of the alchemist's twin babies, and she was glad to hear of the First Orc and that he still thought of her. Barnabus mentioned that he would contact his family right away to tell them that he was still alive, and he seemed excited at the mention of a gun manufacturer in town. Using Teleport, the Pathfinders moved the whole group to Willowdale without a hitch, where they set them up in the Boar & Thistle for the time being. Upon return to the Boar & Thistle, Ru noticed that the Elfstone, previously seen on Kat's finger, was now missing. When questioned, Kat explained that she had hidden the ring to prevent people fighting over it. Ru, feeling betrayed and duped, lost her head for the second time that day, and eventually stormed out. Cinders to Ashes: Mirtul 20th-21st On Mirtul 20th, Alejandra gathered Gorgoroth, Erevis, and Jura to join her and Ballantino in a final confrontation with Enicio Vargas, the Cinder Man. Alejandra told the group that her intention was for her and Ballantino to meet Vargas one-on-one and attempt to battle with him mentally and spiritually as well as physically, and asked her companions to instead assist her in holding back the Cinder Man's dead army. The group employed at this time divination magic suggesting that the Cinder Man himself was an extraplanar evil. The group teleported to the Shrine to the Dead Gods and attempted to speak to Happiness there, though they found that the god was still absent, his statue crumbled in the aftermath of the rescue of the Bird-Man. The group rested there for the day, planning to pursue the Cinder Man in the hours just before dawn. On the 21st, the group set out through the desert, following the Geomancer's Wand to find Vargas. They were met by Chorus, who had possessed his familiar in order to magically assist in the combat. On the way, the group passed by the awe-inspiring Bones of Kouteign Kouroo. Magical detection indicated that some sort of secter door or passage had once been present, but that it was long gone. Shortly before dawn on the 21st, the group found the Cinder Man's army. They quickly put into place a number of magical protections and waited for him to approach. Vargas appeared at the head of his army upon a burning skeletal horse. When Alejandra asked him to give up his burning hatred and return to the man he had once been, he laughed, and commented on how she had brought Ballantino "so that they could be buried together." He then turned his back on the group and ordered his army onwards. As the hordes rushed forth, Vargas surrounded the Pathfinders with Walls of Fire. Being well-warded by fire protection magic the Pathfinders were not injured and pressed through the walls. The hordes briefly surrounded the Pathfinders, including Alejandra and Ballantino. However, between Alejandra's Sun Fists, Ballantino's channeling, Erevis' anti-undead spells, Jura's Quench, and a few well-placed strikes from Gorgoroth, they were slowly beaten back. When Vargas approached Erevis with violent intent, Alejandra magically challenged him and drew him into a circle that Ballantino warded against undead. She then did battle with him while the remaining Pathfinders continued to do battle with the hordes, and Erevis continued to do battle with Vargas' unusually dangerous horse. Throughout her battle Alejandra retained her commitment to saving Vargas rather than killing him, even instructing Jura to exclude him from the area of her spell. Vargas showed no such mercy, and although her amour deflected at least one vital strike, he wounded her heavily. Still she attempted to reach a remnant of the man within, and again he laughed at her. At this, on Alejandra's word, Ballantino cast Reprobation upon him, severing the link between Vargas and Sarenrae. Though the exact nature of that link is still unknown, the spell immediately stripped him of the power of the Cinder Man and caused his remaining army to crumble. Speaking in Abyssal, Vargas called to his demonic patron, and a great Balor appeared in a growing Gate. Erevis immediately cast Greater Dispel Magic upon the Gate, which appeared to slow its growth somewhat; a second casting by him and Jura together stopped its growth altogether. Vargas attempted to crawl to the gate, but was stopped by Alejandra. At this the Balor spoke, identifying itself as Flauros, the Maw of Flame, and laid claim to Vargas' soul. Alejandra refused, saying that Vargas had commited mortal crimes and therefore must stand accountable to mortals. At this, three Vrock, a Succubus, and a Glabrezu emerged in waves from the portal to do battle with the Pathfinders. In the course of this battle, Alejandra found herself grappling the Succubus and Gorgoroth dealt a great deal of damage to the Glabrezu before deciding to throw the River Queen at it; the Glabrezu caught the boat and then dropped it on the Pathfinders, trapping Erevis and Ballantino underneath it for a short time. As the Glabrezu faltered under the Pathfinders' assault, the remaining Vrock and a smaller demon summoned by the succubus attempted to physically drag the now-comatose Vargas through the Gate into Hell. They were harried telekinetically by Chorus through his familiar, and the Pathfinders finished them off before they could pull Vargas through the Gate. At this, the Gate closed, the Balor unable to pass through. Vargas' body crumbled into dust, leaving behind only a skeleton as of a man who had been dead in the desert for months. Alejandra sadly collected these remains, and the group returned to Willowdale. The Pathfinders believe that though those the Cinder Man possessed are dead, their souls, including that of Vargas, are free. Visions: Mirtul 22nd-27th After their return from confronting the Cinder Man, Jura suggested to Alejandra that the time was right for Noemia to embark on her druidic vision quest. Jura outfitted Alejandra with Ironwood Plate and with a number of druidic symbols intended to make her an honorary druid for the purpose of the sacred journey. She also attempted to again speak with Leão regarding the reasons he would not be allowed to accompany his sister, but she found him upset and uncommunicative, having just torn his personal book to pieces. The three participants set out in high spirits on the 22nd, passing through the Golden Fields and reaching the Great Cedar Forest. For the first two days the outing was peaceful, only notable for a gathering of kachina, a small forest fire, and Noemia's mild and pleasant experience with Firewalker shamanic herbs. On the 24th the group was approached by a small troop of Forgotten Ones, fey scouts passing through the Cedar Forest in the days leading up to Beltane. These fey informed the druidic party that they were being stalked by a young humanoid man. Though they were unable to give a detailed description, they were able to describe a weapon that sounded suspiciously like Leão's firearm. However, through a combination of skill, luck, and magical assistance the stalker was able to evade location by the group. Unwilling to try and shake their pursuer in case doing so would in fact leave Leão alone in the forest, Jura magically hid the campsite and attempted to continue the vision quest. Unfortunately, that evening Noemia had a bad reaction to a dose of Peyote. Suffering from growing anxiety, she asked Jura whether the Forgotten Ones were "safe," eventually admitting that she had encouraged her brother to follow them on the vision quest. Jura tried to reassure her that if the fey found Leão again they would only identify him to the party and that everything would be all right. However, when Jura tried to give Noemia an herbal antidote to reduce the effects of Peyote, the girl bolted from the campsite, calling for her brother. Jura chased after her and the two quickly left Alejandra behind. When Jura finally reached Noemia and attempted to restrain her, Leão stepped out of the undergrowth and levelled his gun on Jura, insisting that he and his sister were now leaving. As Jura attempted to talk Leão down, Noemia stood nearby and pleaded with her brother and teacher not to hurt each other. Noemia's evident distress and Jura's entreaties eventually convinced Leão to allow Jura to give her the antidote and escort both youths back to the campsite; Noemia only agreed to return on the condition that Leão not be punished for what she said was her mistake. On the way back they met up with a frantic Alejandra, who promptly lectured Leão while Jura tended to Noemia. From fragments of the argument and Alejandra's later explanation, Jura learned that Leão was convinced that the vision quest was going to be a repetition of the mission that had taken his brother Julio away; he was certain that Jura, like Vargas, was going to betray her charge. Alejandra offered to forcibly return Leão to Willowdale, but Jura suggested that it might be best for all concerned if he were to take on the role of Noemia's animal protecter through a Baleful Polymorph spell. Offered a choice, Leão claimed he would rather be turned into the tiniest crawling insect than leave his sister, and so Jura transformed him into a hunting dog. The remainder of the vision quest was less tumultuous, though more eventful than its opening. A band of Firewalkers came upon the camp. Despite Jura's attempts to shoo them away from the "spirit business" Noemia riled them up enough that they pulled the party along to their camp and even encouraged Noemia to Firewalk, though they were suspicious of Leão in dog form and intimidated by Alejandra. Later, Noemia came across the fey musicians Lark and Gale and with Jura's assurance that these were friendly fey joined them for dinner and music. Though Noemia avoided Peyote she and Leão both partook in further Firewalker herbs. On the 27th, Noemia received a vision in which elemental spirits of earth, storms, and fire spoke to her of their power. Though she felt a growing kinship with these forces, her vision concluded with a visit from the bear spirit, which she chose as her special patron. Upon receiving this vision, Noemia sewed her personal druidic rune into her spirit bag and accepted the mantle of a druid of the third circle. The group then returned to Willowdale; Leão was released from the Polymorph. The details of this journey are for the most part unknown to the Pathfinders not present, though the group's leaving and triumphant return would be easily noted, and it would not be difficult to learn that Leão had been turned into a dog for his insistence on attending the event. Angel Tears and Aquarium: Mirtul 28th-30th On the 28th, a pair of priestesses of Sarenrae arrived to collect the body of Enicio Vargas and inter him in Avenida. Alejandra agreed, but requested that she be allowed have a final word with Speak With Dead. Vargas appeared to hold no particular ill will on account of his defeat, and said that the tide of anger he encountered in his deadly battle with the prior Cinder Man had been impossible to resist. He urged Alejandra to protect those within the Wall agains the other creatures of anger that would come to attack them. Alejandra asked him whether, when he had claimed that Julio died because he was weak, it had been Vargas' opinion or the Cinder Man's. Vargas initially responded that Julio had died because he was outnumbered, but on being pressed said that he had sent Julio to his death because he felt the boy had a weakness of character. As the spell ended, he admitted that perhaps he was not in the position to judge others' characters. Alejandra, Erevis, Gorgoroth, Kat, and Ruthea then set out in search of the Angel Tears, teleporting into the Montane Savannah. They asked a local Buffalo if it had seen any angels, then followed the Geomancer's Wand in the direction of the Angel Tears. On the way, a growing magic gave the arcane casters headaches, and affected the other Pathfinders with a sense of unease. This feeling increased until Erevis stumbled into a crack in the ground. The group investigated the crack and found it led into a cavern covered in crystals and woven through with warding spells. Delving deeper, Erevis noticed a giant creature frozen in the cavern, which he identified as the sleeping Tarrasque. He immediately suggested that the group leave lest they wake the terrible city-eating beast. On the way out, Ru peeked at the creature's slow dreams using Detect Thoughts and Kat sealed the crack with Wall of Stone. Continuing on, the group encountered an obelisk with writing outlining numerous commandments. Kat read one, which stated that any person wearing mixed fabrics must be beaten until unconscious. She reached out to erase the writing, but at this the Pathfinders found themselves magically transported to another plane. There they were standing in a defendants' box with an assembly of otherworldly creatures laughing at them. Erevis noted that the area appeared to be dimensionally locked, and either partially or entirely warded with antimagic. The Judge, a creature who appeared reminiscent of a warforged, informed the Pathfinders that they were called on trial for the crimes of all humans and demihumans. When the Pathfinders objected that they couldn't properly answer charges for crimes they had no hand in or knowledge of, the Judge grudgingly agreed to limit the discussion to the Pathfinders' own crimes. The first witness called was the Kobold King, who complained that the Pathfinders had killed him and scattered his people, preventing them from reclaiming their home in the Great Cedar Forest. The court laughed at Ru's insistence that they Pathfinders had attempted to first diplomatically address the Kobolds' raiding of farms and had only fought when the Kobolds had attacked them. Second, the court called the Bridge Oni, who complained that by killing him they had killed the bridge by robbing the bridge of its guardian. Again, the court was unimpressed by the argument that the bridge now had a guardian in the person of Gorgoroth; nor did they seem moved by the fact that the Bridge Oni had first attacked the Pathfinders from hiding. At this point the Judge sent the Pathfinders to a cell. As they discussed their situation a voice from the next cell identified itself as Ralos and said that he had been there for some time. According to Ralos, the Judge was biased, and damned most who passed through his court. He was created by humans, and had usurped control of the court and the demiplane as a whole from its previous fair judge. However, if the Pathfinders were clever they could turn the trial on the Judge and wrest control of the court from him. At this, the Pathfinders were returned to the courtroom. The Judge stated that they could then call their own witnesses. Alejandra attempted to call Enicio Vargas as a witness to the Pathfinders' noble intentions; however, for unclear reasons he could not be summoned. Alejandra then instead called the Guardian of Abadar, who confirmed that the great Lawmaker had judged the Pathfinders worthy of claiming his artifact. However, the Judge complained that Abadar had no juristiction in his court. The Pathfinders asked whose laws they were to be held accountable, if not to those of the god of the law of civilization. The Judge said that the laws were written throughout the planes; he was irritated by the argument that the god of law ought to be responsible for translating those laws. As the Pathfinders needled him, the Judge threatened them magically, imposing a silencing spell on Ru and suspending the group over a pit of sharks swimming in acid. He further called forth a Rodinian Templar, who accused the Pathfinders of freeing Calmex Igulan, one of the great Betrayers. At this, the Pathfinders protested that the nature of the Grave constituted entrapment. Erevis suggested that if there was a question of knowledge of the law, then they ought to hear a creature of pure knowledge. At the Judge's assent, he called forth his Vizier, and immediately asked whether the Judge had obtained his office lawfully; the Vizier announced that the Judge had usurped his power. The Judge immediately banished the Vizier before he could elaborate, but Kat quickly declared that the she, as a Judge, judged the other Judge unfit to stand in Judgement. The Pathfinders at this found themselves immediately back in the cell. Ralos told them that they appeared to have rattled the Judge and that he was now attempting to regain control of the court; he advised them to press their advantage. Kat announced that she was ending the recess, and the Pathfinders found themselves back in the court facing a very annoyed Judge. The Judge attempted to call the Praetor as a witness against the Pathfinders, but he was beaten by Erevis' call for the Judge's creators to be heard, to prove the Judge's legitimacy or illegitimacy as the case may be. A human man immediately appeared and stated that creatures of the Judge's type had been created mostly for menial tasks. The Pathfinders pressed the argument, helped by Kat's passing judgment on the Judge and Erevis' insistence that the Judge clearly did not have accredation or certification for that position. Suddenly, the Pathfinders reappeared in the Montane Savannah as magical angel feathers rained down. Ralos, revealed as a Solar, thanked them for weakening the Judge, saying that he had been able to gain control of the demiplane. He gave the party the Angel Tears, and mentioned the Shrine to Sarenrae and the Brimir Aquarium. The group wrote a few new laws on the Obelisk and camped for the night at the Shrine. On the 29th, the Pathfinders woke at the Shrine to Sarenrae. The group prayed over Warmonger and annointed it with five drops of Angel Tears. At this the evil aura of Warmonger waned, and the weapon took on the Holy property, though the intelligence within it did not appear to have been made truly good. They then spent the day travelling to the Aquarium, where Erevis had seen a vision of Ambriel's Plate. On the 30th, the Pathfinders arrived at the Aquarium. They noted distinctly dwarven architecture, built in a large scale. Gorgoroth sought a vision of their entry, and saw them fighting four stone golem guardians. To avoid these party used Dimension Door to pass directly into the structure. Within they found many tanks filled with a variety of aquatic animals, including one huge tank containing a tylosaurus. Carvings of dwarven explorers were also observed, and bronze plaques described the specimens in dwarven. After some exploration making use of the Geomancer's Wand they encountered one of the Aquarium Warforged named Hobort who offered them a friendly greeting in Dwarven and broken Common. He warned them of Ironbeard in the office, who had gone crazy and believed himself to be a dwarf. The curator, he said, had died long ago, and Ironbeard, once assistant curator, now acted as curator until a proper curator could be found, preferably but not necessarily a dwarf. Speaking with Hobort and another warforged named Ten-Twenty, the Pathfinders learned that the stone golems would have attacked them had they not teleported inside, and that Ironbeard would then have joined the attack; the warforged complemented the Pathfinders on bypassing the golems and Ironbeard. The Pathfinders were informed that Ambriel's Plate was kept in a shrine, which was in a restricted area that could only be accessed if the Pathfinders were to take a tour. The Pathfinders agreed to have the tour, and were able to pay properly in dwarven gold which Erevis had carefully reserved from dwarven accountants. During the tour they were shown a “shrine” bearing an angelic skeleton surrounded by a number of decorative stones, arranged in a primitive fashion; Ambriel's Plate was retrieved and the angelic skeleton collected for proper burial. Hobort showed the Pathfinders a boarded-over entrance to the Underdark, and at the conclusion of the tour invited the Pathfinders to read the three magical tomes the Aquarium kept. Hobort requested that the Pathfinders find them a curator, and seemed very interested in Rinzler as a candidate. On the way out, Erevis asked Grindylow, the maker of Ambriel's shrine, for permission to keep the skeleton in his "museum of humanoid remains," and Grindylow agreed on the condition that Erevis help find a curator. Erevis further approached Ironbeard in the form of a dwarf in an attempt to arrange a tour for the wizards coming to review Nahasian Insights, but Ironbeard threatened him off.